Re-marrying your partner can re-kindle your attraction, fan the flames of passion, and let you re-live your wedding day — one of the happiest and most romantic days of most people’s married life. With today’s divorce rate sky-high, anything that couples can do to strengthen their bond is a wise decision. I believe that it’s only after you’re married, that you can totally and truly appreciate your partner and the ways in which he or she challenges you to grow.

With that in mind, we decided to have a destination marriage-vow renewal at one of the world’s most beautiful places: The Fairmont Kea Lani Resort & Spa in the upscale destination of Wailea, Maui. Kea Lani means Heavenly White, and its oceanside location on Polo Beach — a superb slice of sand — made the ideal backdrop for our ceremony — and our photos.

We were celebrating 12 years of marriage, 16 years together as a couple, and almost 20 years of knowing each other in total. Our special day started when Polly Xiong, the hotel’s Catering and Convention Services Manager, visited our suite to give us a detailed overview of our vow renewal ceremony and to drop off my bouquet — a magnificent arrangement of purple orchids of several varieties, proteas, roses in white and hot pink, and calla lilies. (The hot-pink roses perfectly matchedmy nail polish.) At 4:30 Polly escorted us down to the Kea Lani’s Pacific Terrace for a sunset Oceanside ceremony.

The fun started at 5 p.m. when Bill and I walked down the lawn fronting beautiful Polo Beach, which was strewn with a carpet of rose petals, with the islands of Lanai and Molokai in the distance. Our non-denominational officiant, Reverend Alapaki “Al” Terry, greeted us at the top of the flowered lawn path and embarked on a beautiful journey of words describing our marriage and our sacred union, including a recitation of marriage vows in Hawaiian, which we repeated after him. Our 18-minute ceremony included a lei exchange in which Bill presented me with a lovely tuberose lei — followed by the traditional three kisses — and I gave Bill a lei of green maile leaves. Reverend Terry spoke of the beauty of our marriage, and how blessed we are to have found each other. Bill and I also recited our own personal vows to each other, which we had written and rehearsed privately in order for our vow renewals to be a surprise to each other. Among other things, we promised to give each other a “happy childhood,” and to make the most of every day together.

After this moving ceremony, we walked a few feet where a special table had been set up, holding sparkling cider for us to toast with, and a delicious strawberry cream cake that the hotel’s pastry chef had specially baked for us. We toasted each other and posed for photos, which were shot by Maui photographer Mike Sidney. We were thrilled and delighted by the professional manner in which Mike posed us, instructed us how to place our hands, where to look, and basically prompted us for beautiful photographs — and unforgettable memories.

After that, we ditched our shoes, and followed Mike onto the Kea Lani’s Polo Beach, where we walked in the water, posed among the rocks, and drew our names in the sand. What fun!

But the best was yet to come. When we re-entered our suite, we saw that the entire area was strewn with rose petals and plumeria flowers, which all led to our huge queen-sized bed in the bedroom. There, we found an ice bucket holding a bottle of sparkling cider, our newly signed marriage certificate, and a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries, along with a gift of fragrant bath salts.

We had a dynamite dinner in a private cabana at the Kea Lani’s signature restaurant, Ko, which means “sugar cane” in Hawaiian. This distinctive restaurant is inspired by the diverse ethnicities of Portuguese, Filipinos and Chinese who live in Hawaii. Ko is in a league of its own, under the direction of executive chef Tylun Pang. Here you’ll find exciting entrées such as macadamia shrimp with local lavender-honey sauce, macadamia-nut butterfish (the best we’ve ever eaten), and delicious mashed Molokai sweet potatoes.

After this romantic dinner, we retreated back to our room.

The Fairmont Kea Lani offers oceans of advantages for travellers, including all-suite accommodations with living rooms and small kitchenettes with sinks, coffee makers, microwave ovens and refrigerators; and villas with plunge pools. The villas also include a complimentary luxury rental car.

As we sipped our sparkling cider and nibbled on strawberries, Bill and I read a meditation entry from a book we read every night: The Couples Companion by Dr. Harville Hendrix, who made scores of appearances on the old Oprah TV show.

We vowed, again, to each other, to stay together on the journey, always and to count every day — not just vow-renewal day — as blessed and special. How lucky we are to have each other – not to mention those beautiful photographs as memories! As far as our love goes, those photos are the ultimate romantic souvenirs of our Maui trip.

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